Eucharistic Ministry Kit

Traditional "Communion kits" sold by church supply houses are usually designed to carry non-perishable wafers and wine, and to be used by priests and pastors when they administer Holy Communion in hospitals to one to three people (since they typically include only two to four individual cups). In cases where contagion is a concern, their individual cups and wafers (rather than intinction with real bread) make sense.

However, they do not meet the needs of lay Eucharistic ministers who must bring fresh bread and juice from the community Table. Rather than a bottle, the juice container needs to be open to allow for intinction with a portion of bread. Rather than wafers, the kit must carry a chunk of bread from the loaf. And it must include everything needed, including the ritual, hand sanitizer, and napkin. The kit shown below meets these needs. 

There are other options: If you have no woodworkers, fabric kits like the one shown here are also available from church supply houses, or fabric artists in your congregation could quilt a beautiful set of carriers.

The least expensive option (and quickest to implement) is a kit using three off the shelf plastic food-storage containers purchased at any housewares department: A two-ounce container for the juice, a two-cup container for the bread, and a larger container to hold these, the cards, napkin and hand sanitizer that complete the kit.

Important Tip: Buy the content containers and make the cards first and design the kit to fit the contents.

As your ministry grows and gathers a "congregation" at a nursing home, even these kits may become too small. In that case, use a basket, a larger off-the-shelf plastic bottle, and wrap the loaf of bread in a white cloth. Remember to include sanitizer and the ritual cards!

This Eucharistic Ministry kit was crafted by master woodworker John Damon at First UMC of Princeton, Illinois. There are no plans, but woodworkers in your congregation can surely duplicate them.

The kits were sponsored as memorials; they have sockets that hold the bread and juice containers securely.

They need to hold: A container for bread (2 cup),
one for juice (2 oz), a heavy white  napkin, hand sanitizer,  laminated door hanger and laminated ritual cards (below).

The dovetail corners are of walnut, the bodies of oak. The boxes are so designed that they stack securely to store in a small space. Hardware fittings are  brass. The lid closes with a firm spring-loaded tongue and socket latch.

What about germs? It's my understanding that wood is a natural anti-bacterial material (hence the use of wood cutting boards for centuries). The cards and door hanger are laminated with heavy plastic so that they can be washed along with the containers. Folks should always be taught to sanitize their hands before handling the elements.